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Liberty Media eyes News Corp assets

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American media entrepreneur John Malone has hinted he will use his 17 per cent equity interest in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to barter for some of his rival's smaller international assets.

In an interview with London's Financial Times earlier this week, Mr Malone - whose US-based Liberty Media already owns subscription television businesses around the world - said that talks between the two parties had been "fairly active".

"There are certain small assets that we feel fit Liberty better than News Corp," he said. "We could exchange small amounts of our News Corp shares back for these assets."

News Corp's DirecTV Latin American business and its National Geographic are rumoured to top Mr Malone's list of targets, because they fit logically with Liberty's growing international cable television platform. Mr Malone plans to spin these assets off into a separate $US4-$US6 billion ($A5.4-$A8 billion) listed entity, Liberty Media International, this year.

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But there is also speculation Mr Malone may seek to buy into some of News Corp's other international pay TV platforms, which include ones in Europe, China, India and Australia, through its 25 per cent stake in Foxtel.

Analysts were concerned that Mr Malone might use his substantial chunk of News Corp voting shares - which he raised to nearly 10 per cent in a deal in January - to coax the Murdoch family into selling some of its larger pay TV platforms.

One analyst said yesterday: "Malone knows that Murdoch wants his 10 per cent stake back and he's saying, 'I'll give it back to you, but you're going to have to trade me for it'."

UBS media analyst Tony Wilson said any deal done with Mr Malone's ordinary shares would create a conflict for the Murdoch family. "If Rupert (Murdoch) takes back ordinary shares, which then cements his control, that would be seen very cynically by the investment community."

A News Corp spokesman declined to comment on any possible deal, but would not deny the group had held talks with Mr Malone, who is the biggest individual shareholder aside from the Murdochs themselves.

Meanwhile, Australian Stock Exchange chief executive Richard Humphry said yesterday the market's liquidity would suffer from News Corp's plan to shift offshore. But he expected the impact to be offset by the influx of capital raisings on the Australian market.